The Indian selectors have reposed faith in the same squad which swept South Africa aside for the Test series against Bangladesh. Despite an impressive debut, Shahbaz Nadeem failed to retain his place as the selectors included Kuldeep Yadav, who missed out the final Test against South Africa. The Jharkhand spinner was flown in as a cover for Kuldeep Yadav before the third Test against South Africa and ended up making his debut in the Ranchi.
Rohit Sharma’s sensational start as the opener in Test cricket came as the biggest plus for Virat Kohli and the side would be expected to be as commanding against Bangladesh, which many believe, could well be a sterner challenge.
The Indian team consolidated its position at the top of the World Test Championship and this series gives them another chance to break away further from the rest of the sides.
Indian squad for Bangladesh series: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Saha (wk), R Jadeja, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant
Rohit Sharma was named captain of the Indian T20I side for the Bangladesh series as regular captain Virat Kohli was rested from the three-match affair starting from November 3. The Indian selection committee led by MSK Prasad met Indian captain Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on Thursday. There were no changes in the Test squad.
Newly elected BCCI president Sourav Ganguly too met Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for the first time after being elected as 39th president of the board.
Kohli was given a break keeping his workload in mind. Captaining in all three formats and being the premier batsman of the side, Kohli is an ideal candidate for burnout. He was expected to skip the T20 matches in West Indies after the World Cup, but he played. This time he has paid to heed the advice of the support staff monitoring the workload of the players.
